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right now on msnbc saturday, out of jail. lindsay lohan freed from jail after posting bail. bomb scare. police search a plane after it's forces to make an emergency landing in sweden. on the run. bank robbers pull off a dramatic heist and avoid capture. why this crime is sounding more and more like a movie plot. good morning, everyone. i'm alex witt. welcome to msnbc saturday. developing right now, a judge sentenced her to 30 days in jail for failing a drug test. lindsay lohan is a free woman this morning. the 24-year-old was released from jail overnight. nbc's kristen well kker is live hollywood outside lohan's home. why was lindsay lohan let out so soon? >> what happened, alex, and good morning to you, is that a superior court judge overturned a ruling that was passed down earlier in the day and essentially let lindsay lohan out on bail. let me trach you through the

koufrs events. lindsay lohan went to court yesterday at about 9:00 a.m. a judge, judge eldon fox, sentenced her to 30 days in jail without bail for a probation violation. she tested positive for drugs just weeks after she had gotten out of rehab. he was trying to prove a point to say that you cannot keep making these mistakes and falling off of the wagon. however, a superior court judge said that lindsay lohan is only facing a misdemeanor and given that, she is entitled to bail. so she set bail at $300,000. so after having spent about 11 hours in jail, lindsay lohan did post that bail. she arrived back here at her west hollywood apartment at about 12:30 this morning. that's where she's been ever since. we haven't seen much activity outside because it's still pretty early here. now lindsay lohan has spent three times in jail so far, all dating back to a 2007 dui incident. so a lot of people quite concerned for this starlet.

she'll be back in court on october 22nd for her actual probation violation hearing. on that date, the judge could decide to send her back to jail or back to rehab. we'll have to see what happens, alex. >> so kristen, during this time between now and october 22nd, can she just run around, do what she wants to or are there restrictions imposed? >> there are definitely restrictions imposed upon her. she has to wear an xalcohol monitoring bracelet. she cannot consume any controlled substances, and she can't be in the presence any of controlled substances. that means she's not allowed to go to bars or clubs. and she will be subject to random monitoring of this. she'll be tested for all of this. but again, she was just under similar orders and failed a recent drug test. so we'll have to wait and see what happens here. she is definitely going to be monitored very closely during the next month. alex? >> nbc's kristen welker, thank you. 25 minutes, in and out and

on the run. a chilling reality for a florida bank teller. three suspects took him hostage before a high-profile robbery. this was the scene in miami on friday morning. the suspects kidnapped the teller just after midnight, strapped him to a device containing bomb-making materials and made quick work in the bank of america branch. wtvj's carolyn ryan is live in miami with us. good morning to you. let's get to who is heading up the investigation. is this an fbi call or other groups? >> good morning. it seems to be a joint effort here. now the fbi spent several hours yesterday questioning this bank teller. they've since cleared him and released him from fbi custody. but the big question this morning is where are these suspected robbers? this was an extremely unusual and very gutsy heist that they pulled off. and so far, they have been able to elude authorities. these three suspects burst into this bank teller's apartment in the middle of the night.

they hold him and his father hostage at gun point. they wait until morning, strap a suspected bomb to this teller's chest. now one of the suspects, he stays behind at the apartment with the father and the 24th take the teller to the bank where he works. once there, they sent him inside to get as much cash as he could all while threatening this guy that they had a remote trigger for this device that was strapped to his chest. now what's interesting to note here is that these robbers never stepped foot inside the bank. they waited outside in the teller's car and told him to go inside and get the cash and bring it back out. now once they got what they wanted, they took off in that stolen car which is a red ford mustang. and already inside the bank when all this went down was the branch manager. she called authorities and this turned into a massive response effort because authorities, they thought they may initially be dealing with a hostage situation. that ended up not being the case and authorities were able to

send bomb robots in, get the bomb off this guy and get him out of there. and thankfully, alex, nerve this situation ended up being unharmed and at this point, the fbi, along with local authorities here in south florida, they have a big man hunt under way to try to find these alleged robbers. i want to mention as well they were masked. they had their faces covered and they were actually able to elude surveillance cameras that were in the parking lot of this bank of america. so seems pretty carefully planned out. >> i was going to say, it seems like a thinking robber's crime at this point. so much more to come on this. but we thank you thus far, carolyn. appreciate that from wtvj, carolyn ryan. we're following a developing story in europe. a passenger jet has made an emergency landing in sweden after a bomb threat. police in stockholm took wonka nadian citizen into custody after all 273 passengers were removed from the plane.

the flight was diverted to sweden after authorities received a tip that a passenger was carrying explosives. the canadian is of pakistani origin and is being detained for questioning. police are currently searching that aircraft. american hiker sarah shourd is expressing her thanks after finally being granted a meeting with iranian president ahmadinejad. most of that spent inside an iranian president, shourd and her mother spoke with ahmadinejad friday hoping to convince the iranian leader to release her fiance and close friend who are still detained. ali aruzi is joining me in the studio. we have no further statements having been released from the family thus far, ali, but the family saying through a spokesperson it was a very gracious gesture. they very much appreciate the team with the president. talk about how carefully this whole thing must be managed in the public eye. >> it was quite unexpected.

we were at a press conference that the profit iran was holding yesterday in a manhattan hotel. he was due to leave a couple of hours after the press conference and somebody asked him, would you be willing to meet sarah shourd. he said yes, i would. all of a srngs this meeting is announced. i think he carefully stage managed it, too. on the one hand, he offended most of the nation with his 9/11 comments but then came across as somewhat compassionate seeing her and left with what he wanted. sarah shourd saying he's very human and compassionate to have met me. he appeased his hard-liners by making these offensive 9/11 comments and appeased people that want to see a softer image. >> but to what extent do you think the man that spoke with sarah shourd and her mother will be able to go back and talk to the judicial council and plea for the release of these two americans? do you think -- do you see a scenario in which that would

happen sore that not the way iran works? >> he tried to intervene to get sarah shourd released. it became a big deal. they released a message that the president personally intervened to release sarah shourd. and the judiciary stepped in and said she's not going. we have to set a bail and bond and bunch of other conditions. and it was very embarrassing for him. it highlighted the rift within the system in iran. >> but why keep these two men in jail? they are accused of being spies. as sarah is here in america and very delicately talks about what happened to her. very simply and says here's what's happened. you would think the evidence is mounting on an international scale that they did not do anything wrong. they were hiking across an area that didn't have clearly delineation what was iraq, what was iran. >> they say that they were, you know, just tourists hiking. the iranians say they have strong evidence to prove they are spies but they haven't presented any of this evidence. they've been in jail for 14 months. >> what does the government gain by keeping them in jail?

>> they are factions fighting within each other in iran. i think some want them released. others don't. they want to use them as political pawns. on the one hand, president ahmadinejad said he's trying to be compassionate and everything. he also came here demanding the release of iranian prisoners in u.s. jails. so they could be used as a bargaining chip. but i don't think the u.s. would ever make that deal. >> they've been pretty clear about that, they don't bargain. ali, thank you. the hotly contested senate race in nevada will be decided by the voters. and thursday, some of the electorate turned a little bit ugly. it was a silver state showdown. one man backing miss angle. the event and the skirmish took place at a christian school. harry reid avoided the confrontation and sent a prerecorded video with answers to questions. this morning, the president is characterizing the gop's plan to cut taxes, spending and regulations as a bunch of old

ideas. republicans say this is a brand new agenda and it's necessary because the u.s. government has failed the american people. >> from the billion-dollar bailouts to the stimulus package that failed to stimulate, to the government takeover of health care, you cried stop. but the democratic majority in washington has refused to listen. i'm speaking to you on behalf of republicans to tell you that we've been listening. and we've heard you. >> nbc's mike viqueira is at the white house. time to listen to you and hear what you have to say. how about a little more about the way the gop is defending its plan today. what do you know on that? >> reporter: you saw kevin mccarthy there. he's from bakersfield, california. one of the young guns. they just wrote a book. and many of -- many analysts, many people in washington expect that these are the folks that will be running the house of representative comes next january and after the november 2nd elections where republicans

now favored to take over a majority of the repercussion from that are obviously going to be huge, alex. it was thursday when republicans gathered out in sterling, virginia, and they unveiled their pledge to america. not to say a contract with america. a lot of people, include something conservatives, criticized it as being light on the details. but the political reality is how much detail do they really need to vat this point. they're almost running a front-runner campaign. but now they have this manifesto to guard themselves against the charge of being the party of no. they want to repeal and replace health care. they want more small business deductions. they want a free spending in 2008 levels. today the communications director here posted a blog post pointing out that that would mean the cutting of many head start children from the head start program. some 3,000 correctional officers from federal facilities around the country. 2700 fbi agents and this morning, the president in his web address had the following to say about gop plans.

>> it's grounded in the same warn-out philosophy. cut taxes for millionaires and billionaires, cut the rules for wall street and the special interests and cut the middle class loose to fend for itself. that's not a prescription for a better future. it's an echo of a disastrous deck taed we can't afford to relive. >> the bad news is for the next 38 days until november 2nd, it's going to be a debate. the good news is it's going to be a debate. about a lot of the policies springing forth from washington. people are involved. they are going to decide who they want to run the congress come november 2nd. >> sure are. okay, mike viqueira, thanks. pulse of the nation as we get closer to the midterms. polls show one thing is perfectly clear. both sides are in the dog house. so what this could mean for both sides coming up next. and more on lindsay lohan getting out of jail. what happened inside that courthouse to get the actress her freedom? we'll hear from dan abrams. [ female announcer ] stay once...

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a programming note. on monday, matt lauer sits down with an exclusive interview with president obama. that kasks "education nation," nbc's look at education in america. and you can all submit questions for the president at educationnation.com. as both parties gear up for the midterm elections, one thing is perfectly clear. neither side is win anything popularity contests these days. recent polling shows the public is fed up with congress. just 38% approved of how democrats are handling their jobs. that number drops to 31% approval for republicans. let's bring in peter hart who conducts polling for nbc news and "the wall street journal." it's good to see you, as always,

peter. we have both parties in the dog house here with the voters. what are the implications for the upcoming elections on that? and how much do you worry about voter apathy where people are saying we're just done with this right now? >> itis terrible problem for the process of terrible problem for the parties. essentially voters have registered a verdict. we don't like what either party is doing and we're telling you that. and when they look at something like the congressional hearing yesterday with steven colbert, it just reinforces the sense that washington's not listening and washington doesn't get it. and that's one of the reasons i think we've seen a rise in the tea party. it is a message. it's a message voters sent in 2006, 2008 and they are sending it again in 2010. frustration and anger. >> so, peter, do you think people may get fired up and we have the opposite of voter apathy and they get in there? i've heard the saying, let's throw the bums out. that's pervasive. that has nothing to do with

party lines. they just want to clean out. do you think that may be a scenario we're talking about the day after the election in november. >> it's definitely going to be a story. one of the things we found in the nbc/"wall street journal" poll is if there were a lever on the ballot, 47% of the american public would vote to send every member of congress packing. and that just says it all. so what kind of turnout are we going to get? i think probably an average kind of turnout. i don't think it will be exceptional. but republicans are fired up. democrats seem much more apathetic. that's the difference in this election. >> at this point, the democrats that are running for re-election or first time election, they are relying more on president obama. he's going to be headlining four major rallies. wisconsin, pennsylvania, ohio, nevada. right now the daily gallup tracking poll puts his approval rating at 48%. that's a lot higher than anybody in congress is getting. how significant is the president to the overall race? >> i thingy president is

important in two different ways. one,y in democrats need him for turnout. he is the person who is going to be able to get the voters throughout. and number two, he can draw the contrast with the republicans. someone has to be able to make the case against the republican pledge, and i thing president's going to be best able to do it. at this stage of the game, 48% may not be superulative numbers. they are acceptable numbers. >> so much comes down to the economy. according to the polls, which party has the edge on that issue? >> well, our latest poll shows that the republicans have an advantage. and the -- the economy is what it's all about. james carville said it in 1992 and it still applies in 2010. voters are hurting. and in every way, they want somebody that understands and can relate to their problems. and the republicans at this stage have an edge on the economy. the democrats have to be able to

make the case that they understand and relate better. >> of course, that line being, it's the economy, stupid. >> yes, exactly. thanks, alex. >> peter hart, anything but. we appreciate your insights. thank you so much. lindsay lohan out of jail. why the decision to keep her behind bars was reversed. dan abrams weighs in coming up. t and she said hair was growing back... i was like, yes, this works... [ male announcer ] only rogaine is proven to regrow hair in 85% of guys. puhh puhh puhh putt and that's it. [ male announcer ] stop losing. start gaining.

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i'm gonna be here until we make this right. [ female announcer ] only roc® retinol correxion deep wrinkle night cream is clinically proven to give 10 years back to the look of skin. diminishing the look of even deep wrinkles. 10 years? i'll take that! [ female announcer ] roc® we keep our promises. after only about 12 hours behind bars, lindsay lohan is out of jail this morning. the 24-year-old was released overnight on bail. now that she's free, she has to wear an ankle bracelet allowing authorities to track her. she's also required to stay away from places that primarily sell alcohol. joining me here in studio, dan abrams, our good friend. good to see you. >> hi, alex. >> is she getting preferential treatment here? a lot of us when she was sentenced to jail obviously said good and good for her. >> i know that most people don't

want to hear this but no. she's not. and here's why. because in this most recent incident, this is a probation violation. and so the question is going to be what should be the sentence for that probation violation? that's still yet to be determined meaning on october 22nd, they are going to decide what should that punishment be? my guess is it will be exactly what they said, which is a 30-day sentence. in the meantime, the question is what do you do with her? and the first judge was saying in the meantime, we're going to hold her withhout bail. now, remember, this is a misdemeanor probation violation. in the state of california, you don't hold people without bail. on a misdemeanor probation violation. so if she had been held and not released, that would have been preferential treatment in the reverse way that most people think about it. >> so you are saying if anybody here, you, me, anybody here in this studio if we were in the exact same situation as lindsay lohan, we would not be going to jail. >> no question.

we would not be going to jail. on a probation violation. meaning that, again, they wouldn't be going to jail today. i'm not saying that october 22nd she won't end up serving time. i'm saying the purpose of bail is to make sure someone shows up, right? the point is saying, look. you are going to put in this amount of money. why your doing that? it's not so we can have your money. it's so we can make sure you'll show up on october 22nd. and there's nothing to indicate she's not going to show up on october 22nd and deal with whatever sentence she gets. it's interesting because the way they can really hold her longer is in a rehab center. >> yeah. >> because -- and that's probably where she needs it more meaning the purely punitive side in terms of the sentence. people saying, she got out after 14 days. a 90-day sentence. except the answer is as a practical matter, that's what anyone else would have gotten. >> get inside the mind of a judge who looks at the whole scenario. looks at the history. you can't avoid it these days. how doch they play into their mind what this girl needs to

straighten herself out is to get into rehab, clean herself up and be done. how much do you think that will weigh into what the judge ultimately says on october 22nd? >> the problem is that in these very high-profile cases, judges get nervous that the public is going to think they are being too soft on celebrities. everyone likes to think celebrity justice involves getting off easy. as a practical matter it often means getting a tougher than an ordinary person would. so i think that a judge is evaluating this case. the last thing that judge wants is to be accused of giving lindsay lohan some sort of soft sentence. so i think they will think about he re habilitation. but, remember, when she's released from rehab, meaning let's say she gets a 30-day rehab sentence. when she's released is determined as a medical matter, not just as a sort of punishment matter. and so i think that's the area where, you don't let somebody out based on overcrowding. you don't say you'll serve a quarter of your sentence when

sentenced to rehab. in rehab it's based on how you are doing. and that's where she could end up serving more time if they do sentence her to rehabilitation. >> thank you for putting it all into perspective. lady liberty has been jilted at an auction. a copper cast of the tip of her nose went unsold. the cast was expected to fetch between 150,000 and $250,000. it was one of four made during a restitation during the 1980s. the smell of freshly juiced wheat grass and hand pressed shirts. whatever scents fill your household, purina tidy cats scoop helps neutralize odors in multiple cat homes. purina tidy cats scoop. keep your home smelling like home.

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flight had been heading from toronto to karachi. in venezuela, heavy rain has caused flooding and landslides in caracas. at least seven people have been killed. communities in southeast minnesota and southwest michigan -- wisconsin are getting a break from days of rain that caused serious flooding there. the downpour closed roads, schools and businesses and forced the evacuation of dozens of homes. more vain forecast for this weekend. the nation's drug enforcement agency is asking people to drop off their expired and unused prescriptions at more than 4,000 locations today. it is part of an effort to combat prescription drug abuse. authorities in florida are searching for a group of suspected bank robbers who they say strapped a bomb-like device to a teller and forced him to steal as much money as he could from the bank's vault. the dramatic heist played out yesterday in the miami suburb of coral gables. all started when three men broke into the teller's home and held his father hostage for several hours. the suspects strapped the bomb-like device the teller's

chest and told them they'd set it off if he didn't rob the bank. let's get the latest from michelle sigona. so this device was removed safely from the teller. he's been cleared completely by authorities. what do you know about the three suspects that police are on the hunt for? >> what's interesting is that we don't have official suspect description yet. wu buwe know a little bit about possibly the vehicle they could be traveling in. it's a red mustang. did bethrong the victim and it was not seen on surveillance in the bank parking lot. but what's interesting is that the home where the victim lives is in kendall not too far away. i would imagine the point from kendle to the bank of america that there's plenty of surveillance video and/or pictures that could be put together to try to form some sort of better description about the men and/or what exactly happened. >> so, michelle, what did you learn about the teller, what he

went through, what police say the robbers made him do? >> well, allegedly. and this is from what we've learned so far. the suspects entered his home, his father was there. i don't think that the mom was there and the mother may have come home to find the father. so i think mom and dad will have a very key play within this case and within this investigation with the information that they have on the suspects and how they entered the home and how if they even knew them to begin with. and same with the victim. the main victim that the bomb-like contents allegedly were strapped to his body and he was sent into the bank. how he knew the suspects. what kind of connection there were. we do know he is 25 years old. he may have had a set of keys to the bank. so those kind of responsibilities and time line, a thing like that, are being put together by the fbi. >> is there like a template for this kind of a crime? have you seen something like this before? >> i've seen some pretty crazy things over the last decade. the swine flu bandit. all kinds of costumes and people

going into banks and things like that. but these kinds of plans are extremely elaborate. they do not happen very often. what i can tell you is from the general bank robberies when they go in and sort of pass the notes and show a gun or show a weapon and those kind of cases, they are getting a small amount of money. not a lot of money at the front. it's the money in the back at the vault where you get the biggest amounts of cash and which that's why these kinds of plans take a long time to sort of execute and put together. so in these kind of cases, especially when you have more than one suspect, in these cases there's three suspects and also a victim. people will talk. so it will not be very surprising to me if they are caught pretty quickly and/or there's more information put out about them more quickly. >> michelle, many thanks. a federal judge is ordering the air force to reinstate a decorated flight nurse who was discharged for being gay. the washington state judge ruled major margaret witt should be given her job back.

the judge ruled her constitutional rights were violated under the military's don't ask, don't tell policy. major witt spoke to rachel maddow about the judge behind that ruling. >> it was very heartfelt. he spoke to me directly. i think he really understands the impact that it has on everyone around you, particularly family and how thankful i was to have my parents behind me. and i think he really gets that and he knew that it was a big struggle and a big event. >> you can all catch the "rachel mad dow show" here weeknights on msnbc. republicans knew there would be pushback tho their manifesto known as a pledge to america. what's surprising is just how many conservative activists are disappointed with the plan. they say the gop missed an opportunity to get serious on spending and now some democrats actually seem happy to have a specific gop agenda to tear into. let's bring in perry bacon jr.

with "the washington post." good to see you. >> good to see you. >> clearly this pledge was aimed at winning over the tea party activists. but they say it's too limited. overlooked some of the issues of the ear marks, the balanced budget issue. did republicans misplay their hand here? >> i don't thing did in that they didn't want to be too specific because they didn't want president obama and the democrats with a lot to attack. so what they mainly want to do is put out something. their goal was to put out something as vague as possible. and then talk about this for a week or so and go back what to what they've been doing the last few years, opposing democrats, and democrats. >> influential conservative blogger eric erickson is blasting the plan. here's what he wrote on redstate.com. it's a series of compromises and milk toast rhetorical flourishes. the house gop does not have the

fortitude to lead boldly in opposition to barack obama. >> so you saw base liblg this week three different criticisms. one, there were critics from social conservatives who said there should be something to ban, gauk gay marriage and abortion. the document says little about that. eric erickson wanted to see a balanced budget and social security, a real plan for fixing social security. and the document says nothing about any of those issues. there is some backlash about them not being specific enough on some really important issues. >> but also this agenda would require congressional approval for any kind of regulation that costs $100 million or more. so does that set the stage for more big government oversight, which is exactly what the tea party opposes. >> i -- i think they would argue, and i think even the tea party would argue that that would prevent more federal regulations. that bill that would actually stop federal agencies from doing work, which is probably what the tea party would favor. that's probably in part and

probably where the republican party wants to head. that's not going to be that much of a problem for them. >> republicans are being forced to respond to criticism. kevin mccarthy said the pledge was never meant to be the answer to everything. he says you have to remember what this is. this is not a party platform. you crawl before you walk. you walk before you run. and this is a start. so does that help buy time with the tea party to reconcile them all, putting them all under the tent as they say? >> the tea party really wants the government to do very little. the tea party would like the republicans to say nothing to. in that sense, i think the republicans by being pretty vague about their ideas and not saying a whole lot, the tea party will be satisfied because they are really focused on opposing obama. this document, if nothing else is full of bashing obama all over the place. and that's what the tea party really wants. i don't think it's a big tea party problem with the republicans that their document doesn't have a dloeft tail. it may be a good thing as far as reconcile with the tea party.

>> perry bacon jr., thanks. when times are tough, consumers know saving a dollar here or there can make all the difference. but what about the dollar store. there is definitely value there. what products should you be walking out with? veer gibbons an economic annual cyst joining us. these dollar stores seem to be all the rage. >> people of all income levels are shopping at the dollar stores. it's this big frenzy going on. everyone wants the bargains. they are loading up and buying in bulk. you have all these other stores clothes, streamlining operations. dollar stores are growing. and growing significantly. >> but is everything just $1. >> that's a common misconception. some people think that everything is $1. that's not the case. some stuff is under $1. some places it was $20, $30. you have to comparison shopping. but among some of the better busy that you will find for $1, paper products, paper towels, kleenex. >> show us some of these. >> kleenex for $1. you'll find that type of thing -- >> that's like $3 at my store.

>> party supplies. those are all good busy. also things like cleaning stuff. shampoo, conditioner. the thing about the cleaning stuff it tends to be private label so it can be a little diluted. people are buying a lot of stuff at these places. everybody likes the $1 tone. it resonates well with them. >> are there brand names? >> some. the dollar general carries kleenex. they also have fisher-price, hersh hershey, coke. some of them have look alike brand names. for example, sharpie pens that don't -- actually aren't sharpie but they look like them. perfume meant to look like a designer perfume but isn't. and there have been incidents, as recognized by the fta, are counterfeit toothpaste. so it looks like colgate, same essential logo and everything, but it's not. >> really quickly. you have jeans there. how much are those? >> 12 bucks. these are bobby brooks. jack jacobs is convinced they'll

fit him. they are about a size 2. >> so you find all sorts of things. >> 12 bucks. >> vera gibbons, we'll get more on the dollar stores later. textbook ruling. what a texas schoolboard decided to do about textbooks some call pro-islam. logistics makes the world work better. ♪ when it's planes in the sky ♪ ♪ for a chain of supply, that's logistics ♪ ♪ when the parts for the line ♪ ♪ come precisely on time ♪ that's logistics ♪ ♪ a continuous link, that is always in sync ♪ ♪ that's logistics ♪ ♪ carbon footprint reduced, bottom line gets a boost ♪ ♪ that's logistics ♪ ♪ with new ways to compete ♪ there'll be cheers on wall street, that's logistics ♪

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or, maybe you want to help improve our schools? whatever you want to do, members project from american express can help you take the first step. vote, volunteer or donate for the causes you believe in at membersproject.com. take charge of making a difference. the fbi says it searched eight locations in minneapolis and chicago as part of a terrorism investigation. that's just one of the headlines we're following this hour. warrants suggest agents were looking for connections between local anti-war activists and terrorist groups in the mideast and colombia. a russian soyuz capsule carrying three astronauts back from a six-month mission on the international space station has landed safely in kazakhstan. the return was delayed by a day because of technical glitches during the undocking product.

nadya suleman holding an auction-style yard sale at her home today. among the items up for sale, her nursing bra. and a bikini she wore on the cover of tabloid magazines. suleman, otherwise known as octomom, gave birth to octuplets in 2009 for a total of 14 children all under the same roof. she says she has to sell her stuff to support her family. so a dismal housing report yesterday showed august home sales remained at the second lowest rate in history. sobering news there. new home sales were unchanged from july's revised rate compared to a year ago, sales were down nearly 29%. relative to the peak of the housing bubble in 2005, home sales were down 79%. rick newman sthe chief business correspondent for "u.s. news and world report." good morning to you. although there's nothing good about this news. usually the summer is a strong sales period. what's going on? >> all those normal rules just don't apply. we're heading into what is the fifth year of the housing bust. you know, experts who are watching this a year ago thought

that by now maybe we would have seen the end of prices falling. but we haven't. and this market has been very distorted by the tax credit you just mentioned. so it was artificially juiced. last year now it's probably artificially depressed. we're waiting for this to find its own equilibrium level. >> what is it going to take to get this back to a positive equilibrium level. >> people who have -- this is all about jobs and job security. >> if you don't have a job, you aren't going to buy a house. >> we know the unemployment rate, almost 10%. people who have jobs need to feel more secure about their jobs. 8 million people need to work their way back into the labor force. people trying to sell a home, they need to just get used to the idea they're not going to get as much money for their home as they probably want so they'll be willing to sell at market rates. we need all those foreclose towers work their way through the system. these are just going to take time. >> one perhaps bright spot. the previously occupied home sales, that did rise. 7.5%? >> it rose from a very, very

depressed level. i mean, the worst level in almost 15 years. and that is the thing to look at. we hear about existing homes, new homes. existing homes are about 90% of all homes that get sold. that really tells you where the market is going. it came up from a terrible level in july but is still really depressed. what we'll see is prices falling further. we were hoping that that price -- >> it bottomed out. >> but because sales fell so much, the demand is off. that means price comes down. >> also the problem with new homes and being built in the like. if that is so off, that's like a domino effect into other areas. >> it becomes a circular thing because that affects jobs. housing is a big part of the economy. >> and those are a lot of jobs that are not coming back. so, i mean, we're getting to the point that people who used to work in krurks just having to basically find jobs in other industries, relocate. that takes a long time. >> do you see different pockets of the country being hit more

severely than others? >> it just tracks the economy. we've seen bouncebacks in the west if you look at the numbers. that's because sales fell so deeply. and then in the parts of the country that weren't hit so hard like the midwest, sales now look pretty soft but that's because they never tanked the way they did in other parts of the country. of course, it's all about where you live. >> zeile you back, rick. you'll be a film critic. talk about money never sleeps. wall street. thank you, rick. you can buy gold bars and coins from a vending machine in italy. it was installed in an airport. and the smallest coin goes for about $60. a computer updates prices every ten minutes using the gold market rates from london. many are buying gold believing it's a safer investment. ♪ just one bite opens a world of delight... ♪

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thebs nbc is kick off a session called "education nation."

during a summit, parents, teachers and students will come together with leaders in politics and business to discuss the challenges and opportunities in education today. it officially starts tomorrow with teacher town hall. that's hosted by brian williams. he'll be live right here on msnbc from 12:00 to 2:00 p.m. eastern. we'll give you a live sneak peek out there at 11:30 eastern. plus check out our website, educationnation.com. find out where your school ranks nationally and in your state. also take a quiz with your child about learning. that's at educationnation.com. a controversial resolution passed by the texas school board yesterday ames to curtail what it calls a pro-islamic and anti-christian bias in textbooks. the socially conservative board voted narrowly to win this in favor of the resolution which calls on future textbooks to put more focus on christianity. the resolution accuses publishers of indicting christianity for the same practices. for example, sexism, slavery, persecution of out groups that

they treat nonjudgmentally, minimize, sugarcoat or censor in islam. erica mel sign reporter for the "houston chronicle." good morning. >> good morning. >> this is a major assertion to make. how did they back up what they call this anti-christian sentiment. and did they tally up references to each religion as positive or negative? what was their fact they presented here? >> they did. they actually counted the number of lines in some old textbooks that used to be used in texas classrooms. though critics of the resolution say the supporters didn't do their fact-checking, they tried to delay the vote but time after time that failed. as you said it was a very narrow 7-6 vote in favor of the resolution. >> i want to pick up on what you said. used to use. old textbooks. is that what's behind this? are they looking backward right now? >> yes. they looked at three old history textbooks that were used in texas classrooms from 1999 to

2002. but some of the board members also went back and looked at current textbooks and said they suspect that some of the same problems are in the current books. >> okay. well, anyway, suspecting that which is current, there is one example given by the resolution that reads in one stance, devoting 120 student text lines to christian beliefs, practices and holy writings but 248, more than twice as many, to those are islam. will this be enacted in the future by literally counting words? is that what this is going to come to? >> it's hard to say. this isn't a legally binding resolution. it's basicallily just a strong warning to textbook companies from one of their largest markets. whether they are going to nitpick line by line, that seems difficult to do. we'll have to wait and see. >> real quickly, texes say huge market. does this mean because of the power they have and the sheer volume of textbooks, there were

4.5 million, does this make the book publisher say we have to listen to what texas says? >> publishers are definitely paying attention. there were industry representatives at the meeting in austin yesterday. and so they are definitely listening. >> okay. erica melon with the "houston chronicle," thank you. a bomb threat forces an emergency landing off a plane. we'll have the latest details at the top of the hour coming up on msnbc saturday. [ female announcer ] sometimes you need tomorrow to finish what you started today. for the aches and sleeplessness in between, there's new motrin pm. no other medicine, not even advil pm, is more effective for pain and sleeplessness. new motrin pm.

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